COLOMBO:
A member of the Sri Lanka National Guard, Sivaguru Navaratnarajah (38), was killed in an improvised grenade attack by LTTE cadres on Wednesday morning, the Sri Lanka Army said.

The attack was described by a pro-LTTE website as a "special commando operation."

Mr. Navaratnarajah, a former member of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), was leading the "Razeek group" and served as a staff sergeant in the Army.

In another incident, a Tamil priest Sabanantha Sharma (28), was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon in Jaffna. While the army blamed the LTTE for the killing, the TamilNet website said he was shot dead by "unidentified gunmen." The motive for the killing is unknown.